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Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Due to a number of blog and forum posts, mostly by Black
Vulmea, I got turned on to the Mythic Game Master Emulator (GME) for my gaming. I use
Mythic in two ways. One way is for running RPG scenes solo. Mythic works well
for helping to generate interesting situations, twists, and turns for free form
solo play. However, I more often use Mythic as a GM to help determine uncertain
outcomes. Some GM decisions are easy. The outcome is straightforward, the NPC’s
action or reaction is obvious. But sometimes the outcome is not easy,
straightforward, or obvious. And sometimes, I like the NPCs to surprise me. So
I use Mythic to help figure out what NPCs do and think.

In one fairly recent session, the PCs tricked a troublesome
NPC who had been complaining about and following one of the PCs, Father
Signoret, the swashbuckling Jesuit priest. The NPC is Friar Fitellus di Canem.
Friar Fitellus is a member of the Roman Inquisition who came to Paris as a
delegate from Rome accompanied by a squad of Swiss Guards and an Inquisitorial
Bodyguard. For various reasons Fitellus and Signoret dislike and mistrust each
other. For other unrelated reasons, Father Signoret had in his possession a
holy relic (or maybe a magic item) the PCs and the players aren’t really too
sure. The item is known as the Piege a Loup or Wolf Cage and it is rumored to
have some power over the loup garou. Several PCs saw a lantern called the Der Kooi van de Wolf (the Wolf Cage)
in the Wudderkammer room in Amsterdam.

Later while doing research on werewolves, Father Signoret found a similar lantern depicted in a woodcut
describing the death of Courtaud, a loup garou who ran rampant in Paris in the 15th
century. The woodcut was contained in Les
Chroniques de Paris
(English: The Chronicles of Paris) by
Bernard Guenée, published in Paris in 1560. The Wolves of Paris were a man-eating wolf pack that killed forty
people in Paris in 1450. Courtaud, or Bobtail, was the leader of the Wolves. After further research Father Signoret found the Wolf Cage in the
basement of Notre Dame Cathedral. He “borrowed” the Wolf Cage for a couple of
missions to Soissons. When he returned to Paris, he realized that Friar
Fitellus had people following Signoret. He was worried that Fitellus would
catch him with the borrowed relic which would reopen the allegation that
Signoret had stolen a Saint’s Relic that the Inquisitor was sent from Rome to investigate
(long story).

Father Signoret’s cousin, Guy de Bourges is a master of
disguise. He pretended to be Father Signoret and led the watchers a stray.
Meanwhile Father Signoret took an indirect route back to Notre Dame. On the
steps of the Cathedral Friar Fitellus tried to apprehend Guy in his guise as
Signoret. When they did, their friend Gaston Thibeault, the Captain-Lieutenant
of the Cardinal’s Guards, along with a squad of his men, countered the Friar
and his Swiss. This resulted in a public confrontation that ended in embarrassment
for the Friar since the man he tried to arrest was not the Priest (Guy dramatically
removed his cloak and disguise) and did not have anything other than ordinary
religious books in the large box he was carrying.

So the first use of the Game Master Emulator was to find out
what were the ancilliary affects of the Friar’s debacle. As a change of pace I
involved the players in the process. They helped determine the odds of success
and did the die rolling. The GME requires you to ask a series of (usually) yes
or no questions.

Since his disgrace was public, embarrassing, made him look
stupid, involved his bodyguard attacking the Gaston (and losing), and put him
in contention with two other important French religious authorities (Cardinal Richelieu
and Archbishop Gondi) we decided it was likely that he would be sent back in
disgrace. An additional factor was that Richelieu didn’t want to have the
delegation recognized nor did the King who had been “not at home” to the delegation
for at least two months.

Q: Is Friar Fitellus
sent back to Rome in disgrace? (Likely), rolled 36, YES. One of the King’s Ministers informs Fitellus and His Majesty,
Louis XIII, has refused to see Fitellus or to recognize him. He is told to
return to Rome. Which means Fitellus has failed in his primary mission to
Paris.

Fitellus still has one chance to redeem himself with a Hail
Mary play. Since the event took place on the steps of Notre Dame Cathedral he
can try to persuade Archbishop Gondi to convene an ecclesiastical court to
investigate. Given the rejection of Fitellus’ embassy and given that the Archbishop
doesn’t want an Inquisition in France the archbishop is very unlikely to help.

Q: Does the Archbishop Gondi convene an ecclesiastical court of inquiry?
(Very Unlikely), rolled 93, EXCEPTIONAL
YES. Not only does the archbishop not refuse to convene a court, but Gondi ends
up very hostile to Fitellus, more hostile to the Roman Inquistion, and somewhat
disapproving of the Dominican Order in general (of whom Fitellus is a member).
Fitellus’ reception back in Rome is looking particularly unwelcoming.

Q: Does the Body
Guard want revenge for the thrashing he received from Gaston? (Unlikely),
rolled 15, YES. Despite his zealotry
and devotion to the Inquisition, the bodyguard is still a man and prone to the
sins of pride and vengeance.

Q: Does the Body
Guard act to gain his revenge before leaving? (50/50), roll 02, EXCEPTIONAL YES. Not only does he want
revenge, but he challenges Gaston to a duel. (A separate roll* determines he
wants a duel to the Second Blood i.e. one or both combatants are incapacitated
or unable to continue the duel.) Gaston is flush with his recent triumph in an
unfair duel against Baron Villemorin, so Gaston easily agrees to the Body Guard’s
request for a duel in the old style, with shields and armor. This somewhat
favors the Body Guard who wears heavy armor every day, but Gaston is both
Arrogant and a Master of Old Style dueling.

Next week I’ll run through a similar process used to determine the
consequences of Gaston’s duel with the Baron Villemorin.

* I used the normal H+I roll of 2d6 with 2-5: First Blood, 6-8:
Second Blood, and 9-12: Third Blood or to the Death. The roll was (6) so the
duel, like many duels, is to the Second Blood. I’ll want to remember this
mechanic as it might come in handy for other duels.

Summary

Friar Fitellus is sent back to Rome in disgrace.

Archbishop de Gondi is hostile to Friar Fitellus
and somewhat negative towards the Dominican Order.

Carlo Ferrara Fitellus’ Familiar and Bodyguard challenges
Gaston to a duel to the second blood (incapacitation). Gaston offers to duel in
the Old Style in armor if Ferrara prefers, and he does.

Does Condé have any mistresses or romantic liaisons?
To date, the Network has been unable to identify any mistresses for the Prince.
He does spend a lot of time with males friends especially his brother-in-law.

Who are his closest friends?
Condé’s closest friend is his brother-in-law, Henry the duc de Montmorency.

Is he having any unusual meetings?
Condé has regular meetings with his family and with other prominent members of
the noblesse d’epee. These meetings have increased in frequency since the
incident at the theatre. One notable exception is the members of the de Guise
family who have been opponents of the Bourbons since the religious wars of the
last century, the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, and the days of the Catholic
League, which was led by the Guise family.

Is the Queen Mother, Marie de Medici, the subject of
recent conversation or speculation?
No.

What is the view of the Queen Mother in the Prince’s
household and amongst his friends and clients?
Condé disapproves of the Queen Mother as a foreigner and distrusts her as an
inveterate schemer. It is thought likely that she would adamantly oppose any
effort to put Condé on the throne instead of her youngest son Gaston.

Are there any scandals or rumors of scandals in the
Condé household?
There is speculation over the Prince and the fact that he does not seem to take
mistresses. Some still find the original elopement by the Prince and Princesse
romantic, but their subsequent coolness over the years has caused speculation.
The Princesse spends time with her good friend, the Marquisse de Rambouillet
and spends time at her salon.

Henri de Bourbon, Prince de Condé

Condé is proud and temperamental, jealous of his rank and privileges.

Cool with his wife; close friends with his brother-in-law.

Now disliked by Hugeunots due to his forswearing the faith of his
father and his brutality during the 1621-22 religious war.

Charlotte-Marguerite de Montmorency, Princesse de Condé

Imperious, but loyal and generous to her friends.

She is close to the Marquise de Rambouillet and is a regular member of
her salon.